


live to love you (love to live you)

by theriveroflight



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Kidnapping, Music, Mythology References, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 03:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19142821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: "I found GodI found him in a loverWhen his hair falls in his faceAnd his hands so cold they shakeI found the devilI found him in a loverAnd his lips like tangerinesIn his color-coded speak"- Halsey, "Coming Down"





	live to love you (love to live you)

**Author's Note:**

> For Summer of Seven, day 2: "Persephone"
> 
> This is a very dark fic, check the tags.
> 
> Heavy inspiration from a smidge of Halsey and a dumping of Lana del Rey.
> 
> Title from Lana del Rey's "Music To Watch Boys To."
> 
> !!TW FOR MENTIONS OF BEN'S DEATH, DRUG ADDICTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE. WARNINGS ADDITIONALLY FOR KIDNAPPING (following story of Persephone) AND STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, IN THE FORM OF VANYA 'LOVING' LEONARD.!!
> 
> Stay safe, everyone.

_Twelve years ago, when they were sixteen, Vanya disappeared. It was of no consequence to Reginald, who held no care for her. She was too powerful with powers and useless without._

_The others were nowhere near as nonchalant, especially not Diego or Five. Five teleported out searching for her, and Diego takes on it like it's a cop case, like it's part of the police that he wants to be a part of so desperately._

_The police were never called, a report never filed. They're minors - and they could take Grace, except she's physically not allowed outside of the grounds._

_Ben dies on their next mission, and none of them are ever quite sure that it isn't on purpose._

_Klaus leaves that day, packs his bag and tells everyone to fuck off._

* * *

 Vanya met Leonard when the ground opened up beneath her on a walk.

The cavernous underground was new to her. He looked to be about seventeen or so, and sat on a throne carved from obsidian.

"Birdie, what's your name?" He leaps down from the dais, and she nearly bursts into tears with the affection she's being given.

"Vanya," she replies, "Vanya Hargreeves."

"I'm Leonard. I'm the King of the Underworld. Son of Hades. My dad kicked the bucket."

Tears well up unwillingly, but they aren't really sad. She's smiling - and happiness feels foreign to her, raised in a world of angry rock and being ignored.

"Don't cry, nightingale. You're going to make this world a whole lot better - you just need to be able to fly."

* * *

  _Luther stays, he can't do anything else to remember Vanya, to defeat evil is the best way to keep her memory alive._

_Diego takes a similar approach, but leaves and joins the police academy - only to get kicked out because he's too emotionally invested, too emotional to think logically like a cop._

_Allison becomes a celebrity and puts on a mask because it's easiest, hiding from her identity and who she is on the inside so that maybe she'll forget her flaws._

_Klaus turns to drugs because he can summon Ben all he wants but he can't find Vanya, let her know that they cared more than she thought they did. And he's sure Vanya is dead._

_Five disappeared into time in search of Vanya, so sure of his theories that she somehow time travelled._

* * *

 She falls for him slowly and almost doesn't do it at all.

The violin is what connects them. She plays concerts from memory, her mind wandering and finding the notes. Some of it is original composition, a lament from the dead of the Underworld, the screams and moans of the shades becoming symphonic and expressed through the music.

And so is her love. He loves her - she cannot help but love him in return. The songs express her hope and her devotion. It is him and only him.

* * *

  _Five years since Vanya's passing, and life has moved on._

_The world turns on without her, and eventually even the others barely remember a world with her._

* * *

 Five years have passed since she fell, both literally and figuratively. She feels better and more loved than before, playing her violin for Leonard when he asks her.

He always calls her a bird, a bird that deserves to be able to fly free, not trapped in a gilded cage.

And she feels free, now. She feels as though she can truly, finally be herself, consequences be damned. Not tiptoeing.

He loves her.

And she loves him.

* * *

The nightingale is caged by another foe, one who whispers promises of freedom as long as she sings.

She sings and she sings, but it is not enough for him.

And because she does not see the bars, she thinks that in his grasp is where she belongs. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically a twist on the tale of Hades and Persephone, with bells and whistles and the consequences on the other side.
> 
> Uh,,, you got fluff yesterday and today you get angst.


End file.
